April 2011 Blog Posts (21)

We buried our dog today. Magnus, our English Mastiff, was the first major purchase that Mark and I made as a couple, I think even more than buying our home. Magnus came into our lives as a six week old, 35 pound, wrinkly, black and tan ball of love. He filled our home with laughter and had more love than his 260 pound frame could even offer. He listened to our complaints quietly, offering a tail wag or a slobbery kiss.

I am new at this and feel lost. I am reaching out for some kind of support and help understand so much that I have not been able to understand about having to deal with having a brain injured adult daughter and how to still be able to be a mother and have some time for myself. I have a 29 year old daughter who suffers TBI from a automobile accident on 07/17/2007. Since her accident I have delt with so much unessessary finacial legal issues to get conservatoryship of my daughter because she…

I divided my weekend between doing this-n-that and moving at my own pace on Saturday, and working on Sunday. All day Sunday, I spent catching up on work that I had fallen behind on -- figuring out better ways of doing things, and just digging into what I've got going on.

I have a very busy job that tends to get the better of me. And I got tired of being behind on so many things. So, I took the day and caught up.

I find myself exhausted about 5-6 hours after I get up in the mornings. My neurologist says this is normal for TBI because the brain hits critical mass and has to rest it’s self in a shorter time span. I can stay it off with caffeine but this usually has more dangerous effects then a nap. I have pretty much adapted to this new way of life and plan my days so that I can come home mid day and sleep. However, this also makes it so that is cannot work a full shift, or…

hello to all my peers my name is mattelford im now 25 years of age and feel like im on the home stretch of a 3 three year recovery proccess on october 17 2009 i was suddenly a victim of a ruptured anuerysm causing a sub archnoid hemmorhage leaving my left arm and hand as well as leg paralyzed (left hemiplegia)this injury happened to me at 23 years of age seemingly out of the blue and for the last couple years ive spent all my time and focus chasing down happiness with everything i have i am now… Continue

Being a TBI Survivor is a mixed bag. On the one hand, hey, you survived. You are more than just a memory.

On the other hand, life as you knew it is likely over. This poses an unimaginably large issue for the majority of survivors, I'm sure. It did for me. I coped by denying that the injury was real (I maintained it was all a dream), then by making silly little "magical deals" with myself ("If I can do this before…

I have seen the idea of a tbi center who decided this is where we need a center, and if the state funds this they are going to tell us we gave you a tbi center, as funding is difficult is this really a good way to use a million dollars that money could and should be used to help the groups that are doing these things now, I know groups are hanging on by a thread and we are going to buy a building for a clubhouse, I am not happy about sneaky legislation for private interests while ignoring the… Continue

I went on a School trip to New York last week. I had a blast going to all the museums and Blues clubs and sight seeing. I did so much stuff that I went without my usual amounts of sleep and began to wear down. The final night there I had a seizure and was exhausted on the flight home, but it was almost worth it because of all the fun I had. It was only today that I looked at the pictures of my trip and noticed that each day as I went with out sleep my right eye became more dilated and…

The cognitive and physical deficits on me are present, but my MRI's have been with the Tesla 1.5- all of the studies. I am almost two years post TBI and I still have motor skill problems and cognitive stuff (it's a list)

Has anyone out there been almost crazy without any findings of brain scan (or in my case "something" is there but undetermined) that went on to have the stronger scan at Tesla 3? Will it pick stuff up even…

So i was at a bookstore today reading this new concept that therapy may embrace. the idea is that after a major life trauma that carries negative memories, correcting it can only be achieved by recreating it and surrounding it with better memories while addressing the trauma in a safe place. this concept is getting back on the horse thinking and im all for it. i read a few other publications but this kinda stuck with me so i started to unravel my own idea of trauma. my accident happend…

I think about the past five years with a kind of sluggish wonder. Our family has been through so much, each of us having our breaking points when the other ones have had to reach out and lift us out of the pit of despair.

Thankfully, they haven't' all happened at the same time.

We have watched Mark learn to talk again, we watched him learn to walk and coordinate his movements and restrain his impulses. As a family, we have helped him with his memory and…Continue